Fishermen battle to anchor boats

Ramanathapuram

Fishermen in Mandapam north area had a tough time anchoring their boats as gusty winds swept the area on Tuesday morning.

As trawlers started tilting in the impact of the high speed wind, fishermen hurriedly pulled their boats to the jetty. Some of the boats tilted after water entered into them but fishermen managed to pull them before the sunk.

Officials in the fisheries department said they had not received any complaint from the fishermen. The sea turned normal in the evening, they said.

Meanwhile, the district administration has announced resumption of ‘Fishermen grievance redressal meeting’, which remained suspended in the district for the last four years. After several fishermen associations presented petitions, Collector K Veera Raghava Rao convened the first meeting for December 27.

The meeting, scheduled to be held at 11 am, would be presided over by Mr Rao and attended by officials of the fisheries and other departments. Both country boat and mechanised boat fishermen from all the coastal areas in the district are expected to attend the meeting. The monthly grievance redressal meetings were suspended in 2014 when K. Nanthakumar was the collector.

Recently, country boat and traditional fishermen staged an agitation, pressing charter of demands, including revival of the fishermen grievance redressal meetings. Mr Rao said fishermen could attend the meeting and seek redressal to their grievances.

As the Scherzer’s span in the Pamban Rail Bridge remained closed for repair works since December 4, movement of fishing vessels through the Pamban channel came to a halt. This, however, did not affect fishing activities as those in the south side preferred to fish in the gulf of mannar and fishermen in the north in the Palk Bay, officials said.